I'm with you. I hate that feeling of anxiety when the deadline approaches and i'm not prepared.

The spontaneity isn't lost - it was there when you wrote the blog. The only thing missing is the angst which I don't enjoy feeling. When I was practicing law I learned to calendar things ahead of schedule and to make all my return calls first thing. I still work that way.

More than likely because of the way you did this, you've offered a series of short essays on various aspects of a single topic: time, its passage and how we perceive it. I have a love-hate relationship with deadlines. Early in my working life, I had a couple of bosses who were more than a little arbitrary in their imposition of deadlines. I would frequently sweat blood to get something done by the assigned date, only to find that it was no longer a priority for the person who gave me the assignment. Now, in trying to manage client expectations and keep myself relatively sane, I continually refer to the maxim "it doesn't have to be perfect; it has to be done."

I used to meet my deadline days before. But I have run dry of ideas. I wake up with an empty tank. Something has to inspire me Sunday morning.

I'm with you, get it done ahead.
But learning Stevens mantra has been invaluable, now focus on Massive Imperfect Action.
It's working well.

I take a dual approach. When I wrote a weekly column, I schemed many weeks ahead, including themes connected to the time the commentary would appear. I submitted columns early as a matter of routine. That never prevented me from changing things on the fly when the issue arose or something inspired me to write differently. The few who follow my promos for my ebook, "The Public Ought To Know," see a different promo each of the twice weekly appearances. Some reflect pre-planning; some reflect something that occurred recent to a particular promo; a few reflect things that come up at the moment I am close to posting. Ability to change on the fly works for me.

These days most of my business deadlines are self-imposed. However, in my personal life there are plenty of deadlines. I'm with you Fred... I always try to get tasks done ahead of schedule. Hell, I even leave early to get to the airport! I hate the heightened anxiety of having to get something done at the last minute!

I have developed an affectionate partnership with what I might call the Composer, the part of my brain that produces the writing for projects. My Composer meets deadlines. It follows a flow and timing for each project that is just perfect and pleasurable, provided I'm willing to trust the process instead of digging and driving along toward my own ideas of how the work should roll out. When I'm really present, my Composer takes me into the Zone, where producing to deadline isn't even an issue. Not every time, but lovely when it happens.

I'm like you. I write them a head of time and just wait to post until the day before.

I enjoy writing, and for me, some things are easier composed in advance. But deadline pressure and emotion attached to other matters helps me write a better composition.

Deadlines, what a name, sounds so morbid. I prefer due dates. If its a project or writing, I like to begin it in advance and mull it over, then tighten it before the due date. If it's dishes or laundry, it can go past the deadline :)

As Bob Seger sings in Running Against the Wind "Well those drifters days are past me now. I've got so much more to think about. DEADLINES and committments . What to leave in....what to leave out. "
My deadlines are few. FAA medical every 6 months. FAA mandated simulator every 6 months. I delegate everything else . Well....Just about . I still have to fill my cigar humidor with distilled water once a week . My accountant deciphers all the tax BS . I still cut my own firewood for the winter. No deadline. Just do a little everyday . But like you Fred. I get things done obsessively WAY ahead of time . No approaching deadlines to ruin my karmic state. Pitchers and Catchers in camp by the way . Spring training brings my annual Renaissance home baby !

Hollander Sends